Sports briefs: July 12

Three down, just one to go. In her long and remarkable career, Serena Williams has won all the major tournaments at least three times. She has won Olympic gold in singles and doubles. She has won WTA Tour events large and small.

But what she has not yet managed is a Grand Slam: winning the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in the same calendar year. Williams' 6-4, 6-4 victory over Garbiñe Muguruza of Spain in the finals Saturday gave Williams her sixth Wimbledon singles title and her fourth straight major singles title — the so-called Serena Slam. But it also gave her the first three legs of the Grand Slam, the true Slam, which could make this year's U.S. Open quite an occasion.

Muguruza, playing in her first Grand Slam finals at age 21, displayed plenty of purpose early in the match and took a 4-2 lead before Williams turned the momentum in her favor. "Don't be sad," Williams told Muguruza at the trophy ceremony. "You'll be holding this trophy very, very soon. Believe me."

Only three women have completed the Slam: Maureen Connolly in 1953, Margaret Court in 1970 and Steffi Graf in 1988.

■Martina Hingis is a Wimbledon champ once again, 17 years — exactly half her life — after the last time. Hingis teamed with Sania Mirza to win the women's doubles finals by beating Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 5-7, 7-6 (4), 7-5.

GOLF

Spieth up two after 61; Thomas three back

Jordan Spieth shot a career-best 10-under 61 Saturday to grab a two-shot lead at the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Ill.

Spieth, who will try for his third straight major title next week at the British Open, was at 17-under 196 after the best round in the tournament since Steve Stricker shot a 60 five years ago.

Danny Lee is second after shooting a 62, followed by St. Xavier grad Justin Thomas, Shawn Stefani and Johnson Wagner at 14 under. Thomas shot a 2-under 69.

■Amy Yang shot a 1-under 69 and maintained a three-shot lead over Stacey Lewis through three rounds of the U.S. Women's Open in Lancaster, Pa.

South Korean Chella Choi shot the first nine-hole score of 29 in Women's Open history. She missed a three-foot putt on her final hole that would have tied the championship's single-round scoring mark, Helen Alfredsson's 63 in 1994. Choi finished with a 6-under 64. Her 2-under total trails Yang by six shots.

■Unheralded Daniel Brooks overcame a double-bogey start and the toughest conditions of the week to keep his lead at the Scottish Open, after a third round in which Rickie Fowler surged up the leaderboard and Justin Rose fell away.

The 528th-ranked Brooks shot a 1-under 69 and maintained a one-stroke lead at 12-under 198. Fowler eagled the par-5 16th for a 66 that is good for a tie for third. Rose, the defending champion, shot 72 to drop from second to 18th.

■In the Champions Tour, Jerry Smith matched a tournament record with an 8-under-par 64 to take a three-shot lead after the second round of the Encompass Championship in Glenview, Ill.

TOUR DE FRANCE

Defending champ loses ground in 8th stage

Vincenzo Nibali is making a patchy start to the defense of his Tour de France title, and if Saturday's eighth stage is anything to go by it might not get much better in the mountains.

Nibali lost another 10 seconds to race leader Chris Froome, the 2013 champion, on the short and sharp final climb up Mur de Bretagne, setting off alarm bells in the Italian's Astana team. While the stage was won by Alexis Vuillermoz to give France its first victory in this year's race, it was the way Nibali was dropped on a distance of just 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) that had people talking. "Hopefully this was just a bad day, otherwise this Tour will be difficult," Astana manager Giuseppe Martinelli said.

Stanford won the $103,000 Long Branch Stakes at Monmouth Park. Next up could be a clash with Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in the $1 million Haskell Invitational on Aug. 2.

The Long Branch, the final local prep race for 3-year-olds, usually delivers at least one Haskell runner. Stanford, the 1-2 favorite, stalked the pace set by Souper Colossal before taking command with a three-wide surge turning for home.

It starts the Friday before the race with a commemorative button giveaway, and a mini-golf tournament benefiting the Disabled Jockeys Fund. On Saturday, Monmouth presents a fashion show and a jersey giveaway saluting the record seven Haskell victories by Bob Baffert, American's Pharoah's trainer.

■Calamity Kate, sent off at odds of 54-1, led the whole way, had enough left to hold off Peace and War for a stunning upset in the Grade III $300,000 Delaware Oaks on Saturday. The field included pro-tem division leader Lovely Maria, who was fifth while making her first start since winning the Kentucky Oaks.

■King Kressa beat Wicked Strong by 21/4 lengths in the $150,000 Forbidden Apple Stakes at Belmont Park. Wicked Strong rallied from last in his turf debut. He won the Wood Memorial and the Jim Dandy Stakes last season as a 3-year-old.

BASEBALLLegends win in 15 after series of late rallies

The Lexington Legends came back from three extra-inning deficits to turn back the visiting Savannah Sand Gants 8-7 in 15 innings. The Legends trailed by two in the 12th, one in the 13th and again one in the 15th, when they loaded the bases with one out and scored on right fielder John Mora's error on Wander Franco's shallow fly ball.

SOCCERAmericans outduel Haiti, clinch Group title

There were few style points for the U.S. national team after a halting effort against Haiti on Friday in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, but the Americans achieved their objective in Foxborough, Mass.

Clint Dempsey confirmed the Americans' place atop Group A and secured a place in the last eight with his winner two minutes into the second half. Dempsey finished off the move instigated by Greg Garza and propelled by second-half substitute Gyasi Zardes to claim a 1-0 victory.

Haiti made the United States work for every inch. U.S. goalkeeper Brad Guzan produced a key block on Duckens Nazon to protect the lead. "Haiti is a team that can cause trouble," USA's Michael Bradley said. "In the first half they were lively and dangerous, but we handled it in a professional way."

The last word

The Normal CornBelters of central Illinois held Pete Rose night Thursday. Not only did Rose manage the team, he was inducted as the inaugural member of the CornBelter Hall of Fame. Two septuagenarian sisters, Martha Goodman and Beverly Edgerton, got their photos taken with the 74-year-old Rose, then lingered near their favorite ballplayer ever. It's absurd he's not in Cooperstown, they said. In fact, Edgerton added:

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